He looks like a German!*

It is Mothers Day in the UK today. I tried to get this house to celebrate Mothers Day today but they said NO. we had to celebrate Canadian Mothers Day because we were here. PAH, I was hoping to get both!

We were woken this morning at 10am (really 9am - the clocks went forward) by two small boys shouting "GET UP GET UP WE'RE HUNGRY!" Huffle sent them away but we were awake then and ended up getting up. Five hours sleep!!!

Of course, when we got downstairs, the boys were slumped in front of the TV. No breakfast ready! No table set! Nothing. Well that's how hungry they were! Smallest said he still didn't feel well and he was cold. We gave him some medicine and he seemed lively enough for the rest of the day (even ate plenty).

A photo of Grandad in his Canadian $1 Coat going for Mothers Day Dinner.

After breakfast we made our way to the Maple Syrup Festival at Purple Woods. Now I have learnt that Canadians get a little bit too excited about events here. For example, today's Festival consisted of a lot of cars and people and a long queue for the admission. We walked through a lovely wood (which was just a bit too slidy, muddy and snowy),

 

passing trees that had taps into them which went into rubbers tubes, that fed into bigger tubes that ended up feeding into a huge vat that was boiled and made into Maple Syrup.

You could see the bubbles of the sap going through the tubes. There is only a small window of opportunity for this to be collected and it is very reliant on the right weather conditions.

A lady told us some history and then we walked around and saw a wagon ride that had a queue too long to stand in the cold for, a tent with some old style games, another tent showing how they made candles and then a bird feeder walk (didn't see one single bird but there were so many squawking children, they may have been scared away) which went back up the hill to the main building where you could buy Pancakes with Maple Syrup and maple syrup goodies.

You could just see the lake in the background

We were warned when we got there that the queue for pancakes was about 50 mins to an hour long. Calling this event a Festival is rather grand for what is just a walk around. Don't get me wrong, Huffle and I enjoyed hearing about the process of making the syrup and seeing it happen, the Boy's enjoyed he walk, as it had things to see and read along the way (including people dressed as early settlers).

Everything here is a 'Festival'. But then Huffle said it was similar to Harvest festival. That's not a festival, just the harvesting of a product, which really is all that the Maple Syrup Festival is. Still, we've seen it now. Small is supposed to be going to a similar event with the Cubs but it all depends on whether the Sap is flowing at the right time.

We decided to go to Port Perry and have dinner there instead. The lake was completely frozen and full of snow. Someone was Snowmobiling very fast over the surface.

People were walking on it to take photos. We went and had dinner at the Italian - very nice. Then we tried to buy an ice cream but there wasn't any being sold. Too cold for Canadians. It was a lovely day when you were out of the wind and in the sun. We walked to the park, the boys played for a while and then we walked along the lake and back to the car.

We stopped for groceries on the way home.

Boots for dogs???????? Whatever next?

After we put the shopping away the boys played on the IPads and ate sausage rolls from last nights Brit Pot Luck. I have had a few texts from the host of last night's party. She was a lovely girl and I hope to get together with her again soon. I promised her I would help make her daughter's birthday cake.

I am sooooooo tired. I need to sleep. Small and I talked about what things we were going to make during March break. He is going to learn how to make flapjack and wants to make different breakfasts.

Smallest seems much better in himself but occasionally cries for the silliest of things. We know he is not 100% (in fact he's just gone off to bed because he trapped his finger in the door - MESSING!!). I hope they are going to be nice to me and each other over the next week.

The boys had their tea which they helped to make. Huffle and Small watched football. I sat and wound up a very knitted ball of wool, sitting in my new craft space - lovely. For ones that don't know, the loft is split in two (not by a wall or anything), one half is the guest area (can't show yet as it needs dressing!) and the other half is for crafting. We have put the sofa in there so Huffle can sit and talk to me while I am at my desk (our old kitchen table). It used to be full of yucky boxes but I don't think it looks too bad now. Still needs a little organising. There is also plenty of room in the middle for the boys train track or dinosaur road or scalextric.

* quote from Small whilst watching Stoke v Newcastle. They player was Spanish. How does Small know what a German looks like? And why would he say that?

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

 

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